black NCAA gymnastics coaches

18 comments ↓

#1 TCO on 01.20.09 at 5:59 am

Are you upset that there are no white cornerbacks in the NFL?

#2 Anon on 01.20.09 at 8:37 am

I guess you forgot about University of Kentucky’s head coach, Hajile “Mo” Mitchell.

#3 coach Rick on 01.20.09 at 9:55 am

No white cornerbacks in the NFL?

Is that true?

If so, it does not bother me. White players get at least a “fair” shot at making High School, College and Pro teams.

#4 coach Rick on 01.20.09 at 10:14 am

TCO is right. There are very, very few white CBs. From 11 months ago in Yahoo Answers:

“There are no white starting cornerbacks in the NFL out of 64 players who start at that position. In fact, there are no white cornerbacks in the entire league. There are zero starting white tailbacks. No white running back has run for over 1,000 yards in nearly a quarter of a century. Only about five percent of starting wide receivers and safeties are white.”

I am shocked.

But this is not racism. ANY football coach would play a white guy if he was the best guy for the spot.

I am not at all sure the best coach is hired, regardless of race.

#5 wordsmith on 01.20.09 at 10:15 am

White players get at least a “fair” shot at making High School, College and Pro teams.

And blacks don’t get a fair shake at…..what?

Rick,

I wish people will just stop highlighting skin color and ethnicity as a criteria for celebration. The “first this”, “first that”…..let’s move past it. Stop making quota demands based upon something as superficial as skin complexion.

#6 wordsmith on 01.20.09 at 10:18 am

ANY football coach would play a white guy if he was the best guy for the spot.

Doesn’t this hold true, then, if it weren’t a “white guy”?

#7 coach Rick on 01.20.09 at 10:47 am

My opinion:

- racism exists
- the minority race / religion / language is often disadvantaged in that “system”
- sport and the arts are the “least racist” systems
- yet coaching is historically a very racist system. White, male coaches have been at an advantage for decades in North America
- the NCAA put in place “reverse discrimination” policies to try to equalize that inequity
- I don’t like reverse discrimination any more than discrimination. It should be eliminated ASAP.
- hire the best coach, male or female, black, white or purple

#8 coach Rick on 01.20.09 at 10:52 am

So, wordsmith, we agree there should be no “quota”.

Obama was the best Democratic candidate, regardless of skin colour. He ran the best campaign.

But his inauguration day is an appropriate day for a reality check.

Are coaches of colour getting a fair shot at being hired, or not?

As an optimist, I think they are. And I hope I’m right.

#9 vanessa on 01.20.09 at 1:51 pm

Great post, Rick, and very timely as well. Racism exists, regardless of who the President is (although I certainly hope that this day dawns a new era for my country) and it exists in gymnastics too, and in coaching. We can all hope for progress.

#10 TP on 01.20.09 at 2:50 pm

I’m pretty sure that if there were more qualified black coaches, they’d be hired. I doubt this has anything to do with color – don’t be so sensitive, peoples!

#11 anon on 01.20.09 at 4:26 pm

I have no number to back this up, but I would think the number of black NCAA coaches is probably pretty proportionate to the % of black gymnastics coaches. Maybe because its where I coach (arizona) but I can only think of 2 black coaches in the entire state.

#12 TCO on 01.20.09 at 6:50 pm

Miles Avery in men’s as well.

#13 M.L. on 01.20.09 at 7:42 pm

Wordsmith – Considering that 41 (!) years ago, segregation was still LEGAL in the USA, it is appropriate to celebrate the shockingly large leaps and bounds towards equality that this country has taken in such a short time.

#14 wordsmith on 01.21.09 at 12:05 am

Rick wrote:

- racism exists

Of course it does. And it probably always will. But as Morgan Freeman put it when asked how do we get beyond race: “Quit talking about it.” And what he really means is quit obsessing over it and perpetuating it by fixating so much on skin color.

Celebrate Tiger Woods because of his abilities; not his melanin count.

When people quit looking at each other and referring to each other by hyphenated this and that, then we will finally fulfill MLK’s dream.

- the minority race / religion / language is often disadvantaged in that “system”

And why do you suppose that is, Rick? Because the white man is still holding the black man down today? Because of events that happened decades to centuries ago? Part of the problem is the perpetuation of the victimology mentality that scapegoats one’s situation to injustices done generations ago and perceives that it still goes on.

- sport and the arts are the “least racist” systems

A number of those who have served feel the same regarding the military.

- yet coaching is historically a very racist system. White, male coaches have been at an advantage for decades in North America

Rick, America has come a long way since the civil rights struggles of the 60′s. A lot has changed (as exemplified by today’s U.S. presidential inaugural). Yet there are still those still waging the same struggles from 40 years ago, as if nothing’s evolved.

When you talk of history, it’s unfair to judge today’s standards by yesteryear’s statistics. It’s like pointing out that America’s presidents have been 99.8% white to prove that the U.S. is a racist nation. 200 years ago, blacks weren’t in a position to be elected to office. Apples to today’s oranges.

Affirmative action legislation has caused as many problems as it has tried to solve. It’s heart is in the right place, but it’s all based on first stage thinking without considering what the consequences might be when you put unqualified people into positions in the name of equality and to meet quota counts. Then it all goes back to judging the merits of a person’s worth on the content of skin color than in character/ability/qualifications.

- the NCAA put in place “reverse discrimination” policies to try to equalize that inequity

That should never have been necessary in the first place if people weren’t so concerned with meeting racial quotas.

- I don’t like reverse discrimination any more than discrimination. It should be eliminated ASAP.

Yes. But how does that happen ASAP”?

- hire the best coach, male or female, black, white or purple

Fine; and if there just happens to not be a coach who is purple and the best man/woman for the job, we as a society shouldn’t jump to the conclusion that it must be because “the system” hates purple people, and accuse purple people eaters of holding the purple man down.

So, wordsmith, we agree there should be no “quota”.

Appears so.

Obama was the best Democratic candidate, regardless of skin colour. He ran the best campaign.

Well….now you’re diverging into political complexities that might have us here forever.

He definitely did run the best campaign. And it was the Democrats’ time to win, whether it were he or Hillary who grabbed the nomination.

He had a lot going for him other than the merits of his actual qualifications and paper-thin experience in political office: The election was in part a referendum on 8 years of Bush-fatigue. The cult-like enthusiasm of many of his supporters would not be there just because he’s good behind the teleprompter and can communicate well. The excitement and messiah-like worship comes from so many Americans wanting to see the last glass ceiling broken: a black American president.

I share some of that enthusiasm and satisfaction; but at the same time, I shrug my shoulders because I didn’t feel the need to have a black win the presidency just to prove to ourselves how far we’ve come on the issue of race. I’ve seen it all around me. Even under President Bush who had the most diverse Cabinet in U.S. history (which will probably be succeeded by the Obama Administration). I didn’t support Obama because he was black. I voted against him, because he does not share my same political ideology. As my president, I will support him as an American; but will oppose any policies that I do not feel are the right ones for my country.

But his inauguration day is an appropriate day for a reality check.

Well, for me then, the “reality check” message is: There are other factors going on other than race in regards to only two black NCAA coaches.

How many Asian coaches are there? How many Latinos? How many Native American Indians? How many Muslim coaches? How many who are Sikh? Zero? Does that mean we have a prejudice against Sikhs?

Are coaches of colour getting a fair shot at being hired, or not?

As an optimist, I think they are. And I hope I’m right.

I hope you’re right, too. There are so many factors that can be involved other than conscious or subconscious racism or the residuals of oppression that occurred 40 years ago, and slavery 150 years ago.

anon wrote:

I have no number to back this up, but I would think the number of black NCAA coaches is probably pretty proportionate to the % of black gymnastics coaches. Maybe because its where I coach (arizona) but I can only think of 2 black coaches in the entire state.

About 13-14% of the American population are black. So, if only 1.5 out of every 10 actors who happen to be black gets a leading role, it fits the national average. When it doesn’t, you can chalk up the numbers to any variety of factors. If the scripts churned out this month just happen to be about George Washington, Che Guevarra, and Miyamoto Musasashi, is it any wonder the leads don’t go to a black actor? There’s a disproportionate number of black athletes in the NBA and the NFL. Is it due to racism or other factors? There’s a disproportionate number of blacks who get pulled over in certain areas of the country. Is that due to racism, or something else (such as living in a predominately black neighborhood?) Are there more young black men in prison or in college? The popular myth is in prison; but the statistics say otherwise. Yet the perception and the myth persist…which inflames people and perpetuates the cycle of racism and victimology.

M.L. wrote:

Wordsmith – Considering that 41 (!) years ago, segregation was still LEGAL in the USA, it is appropriate to celebrate the shockingly large leaps and bounds towards equality that this country has taken in such a short time.

Absolutely! And it was a good day. The peaceful transition of power is a thing to be proud of as well as what it means to so many Americans who experienced firsthand what life was like before the civil rights movement of the 60′s; who still experience firsthand, pockets and flashes of racism here and there. But those instances are fewer and farther between. At least in my experience. And I’m an ethnic minority. Not a “white guy”.

We just had MLK day, a federal government holiday. February is black history month. (Morgan Freeman also said on 60 Minutes he doesn’t want one; black history is American history). Should every single special interest group have a special month devoted to them? I understand the uniqueness of the black-American experience in American history. But at what point do we “let go” instead of being “enslaved” by what happened generations ago? When do we truly move beyond noticing skin color? When will it cease to matter? Perhaps never. There is also something to be said about having pride in ethnic heritage and cultural roots. But we can’t let them be barriers and sources of divisiveness.

I usually don’t refer to myself as a hyphenated-American.

Just American.

#15 Tiff on 01.21.09 at 1:45 am

You forgot Wayne Wright from San Jose State University.

#16 coach Rick on 01.21.09 at 8:37 am

Thanks, Tiff.

Will give Wayne a shout out.

#17 Ana-Lia on 01.21.09 at 8:48 am

Well put Wordsmith. You may wish to know that as this site is run by a Canadian, it is probably wise to not use the term “Native American Indians” a heavily racist term in Canada. The correct term here would be First Nations.

#18 TCO on 01.21.09 at 5:45 pm

Eskimos in Alaska don’t like being called Inuit since they actually aren’t.

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